Pushing Through
by noc
Summary: A song fic of the best song and best theme I thought needed to be done for Tal and Milla. Their life was never meant to be easy. Anyone who thought otherwise was just kidding themselves.


**Pushing Through**

Chosen song: Make it work by Ne-Yo

It seemed cliché but when we met once again after so long, it was across a crowded room. Ours eyes locked. I'll never forget the way she looked. She had decided to wear a Chosen dress. I don't know who she was trying to impress but she had the whole room's attention. No joke. Upon her arrival, the whole room stopped to gawk at her. I've never believed in clichés but so many were happening when I went to her that night.

For the longest time we searched for each other on the dance floor until we met right underneath the chandelier. Music played and instinct took over. It was not a place for words at this point. I took her hand and we danced slowly as we stared into eyes that had been yearning to find each other since the day they parted.

When the music stopped and we were forced to retire, I whispered a rushed 'Glad you came' into her ear before she turned and walked out of my sights once again to be swallowed up by the sea of people. Never to be seen again until we met once again under official circumstances. Mores to pity…

_You understand me. _

_At least you say you do.  
Lately that's enough for me._

Chance, however late in coming, decided to give us our moment when I found her staring up at the Veil on the balcony of the throne room. We spoke of times we had shared and old debts that were forgotten but even through our conversation we both knew what was happening to us. The oldest and most troublesome cliché decided to rear its head and bite us. It intoxicated us and sent us into each other's embrace.

_Looking for perfect…Surrounded by artificial.   
You're the closet thing to real I see._

I should have pulled away…I should have denied myself the only real thing in my life to stop any future complications but that damned cliché had made us slaves to it. It made us slaves to 'love at first sight'. As sure as I was Emperor, our troubles came looking for us. At first, it was just a case of thinking that it was just the price we paid for our love. But who knew that it would go further than we both expected?

_Sure everyone has there problems, that's a given, yours are the easiest to tolerate. _

My family and advisors told me to end it for the sake of the Castle. I shunned them as I would any ridiculous idea. Still, in my world of politics, it wasn't the easiest thing to do. I reckon she had better luck denying her people than I did. At least that was what I thought until I met her once again. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from endless tears. I wished so much at that moment that I had pulled away that night to save her from such pain but it was too late. We were in and we were in deep. The only way out of this was to listen to our respective people and end it.

_This wasn't what we were wanting…How we're living… _

_Let's take this good enough and turn it to great._

That was the logical choice. Maybe it was out of greedy fear that we decided to hide our love instead of ending it. Heck it was fun so I didn't complain much. But such a love was never possible to hide for very long. She told me that she was tired of living in the shadows and wanted to shout to the world that we were lovers. Her passion enraptured me. It was like looking at a light so bright that it could break through the Veil itself. Needless to say, I agreed. Whether it had been through her passion or my own feelings of being tired of hiding, I threw caution to the winds. I was on a high. Come what may!

_Baby understand…_

…_This can only be as good as we both make it.  
Yes, sometimes its gonna hurt. _

Like any other good soul mate, she reminded me to keep my head and not to get too carried away. So we planned how we were to come out and show the world our love. It was slow going as we agreed and disagreed on our plan but through it all we did agree on one thing. We were going to have to work hard for it. Like any good thing, it was not going to survive on a whim. So through our plotting and scheming, we reminded each other.

_We can be as happy as we want to be girl._

_But we gotta make it work.  
_

Though the hard times and the easy times. We couldn't just break down. We had to move on.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

Through the highs and lows. We didn't kid ourselves. We knew it was going to be hard.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

Through thick or thin. We were going to make it. We had to.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

We had to push on through. We had to solider on.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

With our goal in mind, we ran through the darkness and came out and into the light. Our people were the biggest problem. But with the threat of losing their leaders as our bargaining chip, they decided to accept us and our love. As much as I wanted that to be the end of our troubles, it was only the beginning. Our next big problem was where we were to live together. This particular problem reminded me of that old saying. A fish could love a bird but where would they live…Who was I to know that there was truth in such a saying?

_Sometimes I love you more than you'll ever know._

_Other times you get on my nerves. _

_That's just reality…no, it can't always be kisses, hugs and beautiful words._

Well…we fought over it and there were several times that we simply could not be in the same room as each other. So sue us! I was born arrogant and she was born stubborn. What did you expect? Easy sailing? I must admit that was what I thought after we convinced our people of our love. It simply wasn't that easy.

We did try to bury the hatchet but every time that issue came up it was war all over again. Was I so deluded that I thought that a few gentle words and a kiss or two could simply pave over our problems? Apparently I did. That was not what she thought. She left me with my pride by returning to her people. The endless weeks I spent angry at her made me edgy to say the least but after I could no longer stand the silence of my lonely mind, I gave in.

In the end, I did the unthinkable. After I chose a regent to look after the Castle and I went after her. I travelled the Ice for a good three months before I found her. It was really just the shock of her life to find me out on the Ice looking for her. She was sad, happy and angry all at once when I told her of my plans to live with her on the Ice. Her usual stubbornness crumbled under my sincerity and she invited me back into her heart her Clan.

_You was looking for your prince. _

_What you found is a pauper with potential._

_And no I'm nowhere near perfect but I'm around._

Adjusting to my new life on the Ice was as troublesome as some of our epic fights. I was forced to give up my sunstone so it could be the light for the Clan ship. That in itself was asking too much already but it was nothing compared to losing her again. After losing my birthright to the Clan's mast, I set out to prove to her that I could be the man she could be proud of. It was not easy! For the first year, I was nothing but a thorn in her side. I had proved to be more of an embarrassment. I ended up insulting everyone she knew unintentionally and that was enough to label me as the big mistake that she had made in her life.

I felt like the biggest mistake in her life but when she defended me, I knew that she still felt our love. Yes, I was nowhere near the man she had thought. Yes, I was a screw up but she would not be rid of me and that would get us through. We just needed time.

_Girl, time and patience is essential._

_Baby realize… _

Although I got an unwanted vibe from her from time to time, she thankfully remembered that promise we made when we set out in the beginning of our journey.

…_This can only be as good as we both make it.  
Yes, sometimes its gonna hurt. _

I wasn't totally in the wrong most of the time. She did make it hard on me sometimes but if anything serious happened then I would remind her of the promise we made. That seemed to get us through.

_We can be as happy as we want to be girl._

_But we gotta make it work._

Though the hard times and the easy times. We couldn't just ignore each other.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

Through the highs and lows. We knew that I was not suited to the Ice but I tried.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

Through thick or thin. We shared our failures and victories together with only our love guiding us.

_We gotta make it work.  
_

We had to push on through. We had to solider on. If not for ourselves then for our little surprise.

_We gotta make it work._

Three years after the move to the Ice. I received the biggest surprise of my life. I was going to be a father! Milla gave me the good news when she was sure. After a quick visit to the Crones, we found that we were going to have a boy. It was the happiest day of my life. I could not believe that such a day could come. Through all the hardships we went through, I didn't dare believe such a good thing could be possible.

It was always the cruellest joke when fate denied us our happiness and bringing a new life into the world was probably the worst thing to deny. Nine months later fate dealt us our darkest day. Milla was in labour and there was a complication. Our child came to us as a stillborn. No amount of magic could have brought him back. Milla broke down and lost her will to live. I wasn't far behind. It was a grave time for both of us.

_Thick and thin…  
The bad outweighs the good sometimes.  
That doesn't mean we're supposed to give it up.  
My problems are yours and yours are mine._

It was only through our strength of will. It was our hope that the there would be a brighter day on the horizon. These things kept us from the brink of despair. I had to be strong for her and she did her best to keep me going. It was a mutual agreement. Was it a residual strength from our original promise? How were we to know? It was irrelevant. How can anyone ever be the same after such a travesty? Most people don't but we did through some miracle we were blessed once again.

After several unsuccessful tries, she fell pregnant again. I wanted her to come to the Castle and give birth there in the safety and warmth of all the sunstones I could find. She shook her head with such a calm that it almost made me think she had gone insane. Noting my surprise, she explained and put my mind at ease. She explained to me that she wanted our child to be strong. She said that she wanted them to be strong from the time they were born to the time that we had to leave them.

In some twisted and insane place in my mind, I understood. I was still worried as any expectant parent but I knew what she was saying. Was I wrong to agree? Even to this day, I still don't know. All I know is that I would have done the same thing if I had to do it again. With her by my side and with our future waiting inside her, I just knew that brighter and better days were on its way.

_…This can only be as good as we both make it.  
Yes, sometimes it's gonna hurt.  
We can be as happy as we want to be girl._

_But we gotta make it work. _

Milla went into labour for three hours. The Crones had predicted a shorter time so it was understandable that everyone was in a slight panic. No, I speak too modestly. I was going out of my mind with worry. Anxiety plagued me. The waiting was killing me. After another hour of waiting, I simply couldn't be patient anymore. I would never forget that moment. Several Crones stood around my wife. Their eyes were bright and they were chanting. I took it for some weird ritual and left them alone. I went to her side and I saw her sweating and pale face.

She was smiling. I looked down into her arms and found two beautiful faces. I will never be able to explain the happiness I felt at that moment. It was simply the best point in my life. Milla looked up at me and I saw her tired face but I also saw the life in her eyes. It was being drained away…I forced a smile and tried to keep her happy. I simply could describe the feeling of loss and happiness I felt. I was happy that two lives were brought into my life. Yet I was sad that such a sacrifice was taken.

"Take care of them. I will always watch over you…all of you…"

Those were her last words before she closed her eyes and did wake. I kissed her and let her go. It was the hardest thing I had to do but I had to let my love go.

_We gotta make it work…_

If I had held on to her then I would have neglected the two gifts she had left me. I didn't want that happening.

_We gotta make it work…_

Somehow, I found the strength to go on. I raised our children with her wishes in mind.

_We gotta make it work…_

She wanted them to be strong. She wanted them to be stronger than us.

_We gotta make it work…_

She wanted them to be happy. Somehow, I did it. Somehow, I made it work. Did I find the strength to raise them from our original promise? Or was it simply an inert paternal sense that made them become the leaders of the future? I will never know. In life, I thought I had done it on my own but the truth was.

We did it….


End file.
